Ode to Chicken

You will see a theme this week with my cooking. Its my "ode to chicken" I was looking through my "fall recipes to try" document & had a ton of chicken recipes. Knowing that we had eaten poorly the past two weeks & we are not working out, chicken is probably the best option for dinner to keep us for ballooning out.

Chicken with Goat Cheese Sauce & Roasted Fall Veggies

Chicken with Goat Cheese Sauce

Cooking Light

Ingredients
4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon canola oil
2 tablespoons dry white wine
1 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
4 thyme sprigs
1/4 cup (2 ounces) soft (log-style) goat cheese
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

Preparation
Place each chicken breast half between 2 sheets of heavy-duty plastic wrap; pound to 1/2-inch thickness using a meat mallet or rolling pin. Sprinkle chicken evenly with salt and pepper.
Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add chicken; cook 6 minutes on each side or until done. Remove chicken from pan; keep warm. (I didn't pound them out this time since I had just done that last night, cooking took a bit longer, but to keep them moist I added a little white wine to the pan)

Add wine to pan; bring to a boil, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Cook until mixture is reduced to 1 tablespoon (about 1 minute). Add broth and thyme sprigs; cook until mixture is reduced to 1/2 cup (about 5 minutes). Remove from heat; discard thyme sprigs.

Add cheese to pan; stir with a whisk until smooth. Serve sauce over chicken; sprinkle with thyme leaves.

Yield 4 servings (serving size: 1 chicken breast half and about 3 tablespoons sauce)

Roasted Fall Vegetables
Found on Good Things Catered, originally from Williams-Sonoma
Deep Roasted Fall Vegetables
Williams-Sonoma

Ingredients:
1 lb. small white onions, each about 1 1/4 inches in diameter
3 Tbs. olive oil
1/2 lb. carrots, peeled and cut crosswise into 1-inch slices (about 1 cup)
4 cups broccoli florets (from 1 large bunch) I omitted these & used zucchini
1 lb. yellow summer squash, quartered lengthwise and cut into 1-inch pieces (about 4 cups)
2 Tbs. finely chopped fresh marjoram
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
I also added about 3 potatoes, cut into 1 inch pieces

Directions:
-To peel the onions, bring a pot of water to a boil over high heat.
-Trim off the top and root ends and make a small X in the root end. Drop onions into the boiling water.
-When it returns to a boil, drain the onions, plunge them into cold water and drain again.
-Slip off the skins.
-Position a rack in the lower third of an oven and preheat to 500°F.
-Coat the bottom of a heavy 18-by-13-inch roasting pan with the olive oil.
-Add the onions and shake the pan to coat them with the oil.
-Roast for 7 minutes.
–Shake the pan to turn the onions over, then move them to the center of the pan.
-Surround the onions with the carrots, broccoli and squash and roast for 15 minutes more.
-Turn the vegetables over and roast until browned and tender, about 7 minutes more.
-Add the marjoram and roast for 3 minutes more.
-Season with salt and pepper. Serve hot.

Another dinner success. The goat cheese sauce was awesome, it had such a creamy smooth texture and the thyme paired very well with it. I did use more than the recipe calls for b/c I wanted it to be extra creamy.